I like the list of books I came up with for my reading challenge. However, that list was my tentative planning list before I worked on the other genre challenges that I belong to on FaceBook. For those, I’m doing a bit of planning below.

Cozy Mystery Reading Challenge for 2023

1. Set in a different time period –> The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg
2. Cozy companion that isn’t a dog or cat –> Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell
3. Has a beverage recipe –> Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis
4. Paranormal or Magical Cozy –> Death Overdue by Allison Brook
5. Set somewhere you’d like to vacation –> The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton
6. Sun, Moon, or Stars on the cover –> Deadly Summer Nights by Vicky Delaney
7. A Cozy that matches the season –> WINTER: Chocolate Hearts and Murder by Patt Larsen; SPRING: Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy; SUMMER: Jealousy Filled Donuts by Ginger Bolton; FALL: The Cider Shop Rules by Julie Ann Winters;
8. A Cozy opposite the season –> WINTER: Murder in the PaperBack Parlour by Ellery Adams;
9. Male Author –> Death by Coffee by Alex Erickson
10. Main character is different than you –> Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien
11. An author who uses initials –> Whose Body by Dorothy L Sayers
12. A past Book Chat selection you haven’t read –> Elementary, She Read by Vicky Delany
13. A library book –> Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
14. A reread –> Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
15. Serves food you’d like to eat –> Catering to Nobody by Dianne Mott Davidson
16. Includes a celebration –> Murder’s No Votive Confidence by Christin Brecher
17. Includes a home project –> Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves
18. Judge a book by its cover –> Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanna Fluke
19. Has a setting different from yours –> Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
20. Read (part of) the rainbow: predominant purple –> Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
21. Bonus Prompt #1 — Three cozies, same author –> I Scream, You Scream // ​Scoop to Kill // A Parfait Murder by Wendy Lyn Watson
22. Bonus Prompt #2 — Cozy without murder –> The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
23. Bonus Prompt #3 — Read the rainbow –> RED: Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian // ORANGE: The Librarian Always Rings Twice by Marty Wingate // YELLOW: Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle // GREEN: A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball by T.E. Kinsey // BLUE: Caught Dead Handed by Carol J. Perry // INDIGO: Fame and Fortune and Murder by Patti Larsen // VIOLET: Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

The Tea and Ink Society Challenge

This site has the requirement that the books have to all be published before 1970. Hey, I was born before then, I guess I’m classic now too!

1. January: A classic detective novel
2. February: A book with a character’s name in the title
3. March: A classic fairy tale collection
4. April: A classic Japanese novel
5. May: A book with a movie/TV adaptation you’ve already seen
6. June: A classic set at sea
7. July: A narrative poem or collection of poetry
8. August: A classic by a Latin American author
9. September: A Dickens novel
10. October: A nonfiction classic
11. November: A classic fantasy novel
12. December: A classic set in a place you want to visit

The Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge (#CloakDaggerChal).

The premise for this one is sheer volume:

• 5-15 books – Amateur sleuth
• 16-25 books – Detective
• 26-35 books – Inspector
• 36 – 55 – Special agent
• 56+ books – Sherlock Holmes

The catch — of course, there’s a catch! — is that you can only count mystery, suspense, thriller and crime books. You can find the link at: https://carolsnotebook.com/2022/11/15/cloak-and-dagger-reading-challenge-2023/.

Let the reading begin!